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Child Killed in ATV Accident in Gonzales, California

California personal injury lawyers have been greatly concerned about the injuries in ATV accidents involving children. These have contributed to hundreds of recorded injuries and dozens of deaths.

In the most recent such tragic incident involving an all-terrain vehicle, a 12-year-old boy was killed in a ATV accident in Gonzales in unincorporated Monterey County last weekend. The accident occurred on Saturday. The boy was riding his ATV with two other passengers. The boy seems to have lost control of the vehicle, and crashed into a fence. Both the victim as well as the two passengers were ejected from the vehicle. The boy died at the scene of the accident, while the two other passengers, both 11-year-old boys, had to be rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.

Earlier this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report into the incidence of ATV related accidents, injuries or fatality. California accident lawyers had been extremely concerned then by some of the findings in the report. The Golden State accounted for the largest number of fatalities in ATV accidents in 2008. During the study period, between 2006 and 2008, there were a total of 102 ATV accident related deaths in California. When you take a bigger time period between 1982 and 2005 into consideration, there were 414 ATV accident-related deaths in California. Overall, California has the highest number of ATV-related accident fatalities in the country. In fact, California’s ATV accident fatality rate was estimated at 5% of the total ATV accident fatalities in the country between 1982 and 2005.

Children are at a higher risk of injuries and fatalities in ATV accident than adults. In fact, ATV safety experts recommend that children below the age of 16 not be allowed to ride all-terrain vehicles at all. ATV critics have always felt that the use of these vehicles by children places them at a higher risk of injury and fatality.

However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission study shows that 4-wheeler ATVs that are now in use, also have an equally high accident and fatality rate. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in the year 2008, 7,700 out of an estimated 135,100 injuries from ATV accidents, occurred in children below the age of 16. In fact children below the age of 16 accounted for 20% of all all-terrain vehicle related injuries.

It’s clear from several studies that all-terrain vehicles have a higher center of gravity and are therefore much more prone to imbalance and toppling over. This can happen even when the all-terrain vehicle is being driven at low speeds. In fact, several children have been injured even when they were driving the ATV at moderate speeds. ATV’s  already may look cute, but can pack thousands of pounds of power. During a rollover, children are likely to be trapped under the ATV and may be at risk for crushing injuries, amputations, fractures, broken bones and a range of other injuries.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of ATV accidents. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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